Massuria simplex (Xu, Han & Li, 2008) Li & Yao & Xiao & Xu & Liu, 2023

Li, Cong-zheng, Yao, Yan-bin, Xiao, Yong-hong, Xu, Xiang & Liu, Ke-ke, 2023, Notes on two species of Massuria Thorell, 1887 (Arachnida, Araneae, Thomisidae) from China with description of a new species, ZooKeys 1175, pp. 299-310 : 299

publication ID	https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1175.105446
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:866ECE5E-4608-4430-8171-29E3CC395B1B
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/CA5C0685-93C1-5A72-8C4C-E1F3A66EC26B
treatment provided by	ZooKeys by Pensoft
scientific name	Massuria simplex (Xu, Han & Li, 2008)
status	comb. nov.

Treatment

Massuria simplex (Xu, Han & Li, 2008) comb. nov.

Figs 3 View Figure 3 , 4 View Figure 4 , 6A, B View Figure 6

Pistius gangulyi Yaginuma & Wen, 1983: 193, fig. 1A-C (♀, misidentified).

Diaea simplex Xu, Han & Li, 2008: 14, fig. 1a-e (male holotype not examined). syn. nov.; Tang et al. 2010a (♂).

Massuria bellula Xu, Han & Li, 2008: 15, fig. 2a-c (female holotype not examined).

Material examined.

1f, 1 m: China: Guangdong Province: Maoming City, Gaozhou City, Changpo Town , 22°4'43.34"N, 111°6'30.51"E, 6.II.2022, Y.H. Zhong leg. (Tho-297, ASM-JGSU) GoogleMaps .

Diagnosis.

Female resembles those of M. daizong Lin & Li, 2023 (see Lin et al. 2023: 74, figs 66A, B, 67B) in having the sac-shaped spermathecae with many constrictions, but can be easily differentiated from it by the dorsal abdomen without a distinct marking (vs. a red face mask-like marking present in M. daizong ), the W-shaped epigynal plate (vs. M-shaped in M. daizong ), and the long longitudinal copulatory ducts (vs. short in M. daizong ) (Fig. 3C, D View Figure 3 ). Male is very similar to that of Massuria ovalis Tang & Li, 2010 (see Tang and Li 2010b: 29, fig. 21A, B) in having a long embolus (Em) arising and ending at the 3 o’clock position of the tegulum, but can be recognized by the straight ventral tibial apophysis (VTA) (vs. slightly curved in M. ovalis ) and the retrolateral tibial apophysis (RTA) with a ridge-like apophysis near the base (vs. lacking basal apophysis in M. ovalis ) and thick spine-like apex (vs. very blunt in M. ovalis ) in ventral view (Fig. 4G, H View Figure 4 ).

Description.

Female. Habitus (Figs 3A, B View Figure 3 , 6A, B View Figure 6 ). Total length 8.07. Carapace length 3.72, width 3.52. Eye diameters and interdistances: AME 0.09, ALE 0.11, PME 0.07, PLE 0.09; AME-AME 0.41, ALE-AME 0.30, ALE-ALE 1.06, PME-PME 0.40, PLE-PME 0.50, PLE-PLE 1.48, AME-PME 0.40, AME-PLE 0.70, ALE-PLE 0.29, MOA 0.54 long, front width 0.53, back width 0.54. Leg without annulation, measurements (Fig. 3A, B View Figure 3 ): I 11.6 (3.43, 1.76, 2.87, 2.32, 1.22); II 11.79 (3.65, 1.76, 2.8, 2.37, 1.21); III 5.95 (2.17, 0.79, 1.37, 1.04, 0.58); IV 6.46 (2.3, 0.69, 1.4, 1.34, 0.73); setation (Fig. 3A, B View Figure 3 ): I Fe: d4; Ti: v8; Mt: p3, r1, v16; II Pa: d1; Ti: v5; Mt: p2, r1, v13; III Ti: d3; Mt: d3, p2; IV: Ti: d3. Abdomen (Fig. 3A, B View Figure 3 ): length 4.35, width 4.98, with a brown linear mark on anteromedial abdomen.

Epigyne (Fig. 3C, D View Figure 3 ). Median plate (MP) W-shaped, copulatory openings (CO) located laterally. Copulatory ducts (CD) very short, as long as 1/3 of spermathecal length. Spermathecae (Spe) sac-shaped, median thinner than anterior and posterior parts, with several constrictions. Fertilization ducts (FD) short and broad, directed laterally.

Male. Habitus (Fig. 4A-C View Figure 4 ). Total length 3.45. Carapace (Fig. 4A View Figure 4 ) broadly oval, length 1.70, width 1.82, with densely granulated trichopores. Eye (Fig. 4C View Figure 4 ) diameters and interdistances: AME 0.07, ALE 0.09, PME 0.05, PLE 0.07; AME-AME 0.22, AME-ALE 0.15, ALE-ALE 0.61, PME-PME 0.22, PME-PLE 0.29, PLE-PLE 0.88, ALE-PLE 0.19, AME-PME 0.20. MOA 0.31 long, front width 0.31, back width 0.33. Chelicerae yellow, straight, robust, with abundant thick setae on frontal surface, lacking promarginal and retromarginal teeth. Endites yellow, with a distinct constriction medially. Labium oval, as long as 2/3 of endite. Sternum (Fig. 4B View Figure 4 ) yellow, broadly oval, wider than long. Legs yellow (Fig. 4A, B View Figure 4 ), legs I and II with brown annulations on patellae, tibiae, metatarsi, and tarsi; measurements: I 6.68 (2.04, 0.84, 1.58, 1.38, 0.84); II 6.99 (2.06, 0.87, 1.7, 1.48, 0.88); III 3.52 (0.97, 0.54, 0.88, 0.69, 0.44); IV 3.13 (0.9, 0.59, 0.82, 0.5, 0.32); setation (Fig. 4A, B View Figure 4 ): I Fe: d3, p4; Ti: d1, v4; Mt: p1, r1, v10; II Fe: d5; Ti: d1, v4; Mt: p2, r2, v6; III Fe: d2; Pa: d2; Ti: d1; IV: Fe: d2; Pa: d2, r1; Ti: d4, r1. Abdomen (Fig. 4A, B View Figure 4 ) ovoid, 1.75 long, 1.72 wide, yellow, laterally with arc-shaped filiform mark.

Palp (Fig. 4E-H View Figure 4 ). Ventral tibial apophysis (VTA) slightly shorter than tibia, directed retrolaterally. Retrolateral tibial apophysis (RTA) longer than tibia, with a ridge-like apophysis and a thick spine-like tip. Embolus (Em) arising from 3 o’clock and ending at the same position.

Comments.

It is noteworthy that the figure of the female of Pistius gangulyi presented by Yaginuma and Wen (1983) agreed well with the specimens known from Guangdong, although they had a female specimen from Hainan as the same as the male records by Tang and Li (2010a). While the holotype female of Massuria bellula Xu, Han & Li, 2008 was collected from the Tai Lung Experimental Station, Hong Kong, China by Ping-wing Chan on 30 June 1999. The male of Diaea simplex Xu, Han & Li, 2008 was also discovered by him a week later from the same locality. The latter is the same species as the first because it has all of the diagnostic features of Massuria : the pentagonal abdomen with distinct submarginal pattern and the male palpal RTA modified into a distal process ( Sen et al. 2015). Further examination of the male and female genitalia in this study confirms its synonymy with Diaea simplex Xu, Han & Li, 2008 (compare Fig. 1 View Figure 1 with Xu et al. 2008: 14, fig. 1) and the records of Pistius gangulyi from Hainan in Yaginuma and Wen (1983) were misidentified. The species M. bellula should thus be regarded a synonym of D. simplex Xu, Han & Li, 2008.

Distribution.

Known only from Guangdong, Hainan ( Yaginuma and Wen 1983; Tang and Li 2010a) and Hong Kong ( Xu et al. 2008), China (Fig. 7 View Figure 7 ).